Trained field workers will visit the households, 2 times a week to assess compliance to the assigned intervention at their respective time schedules, motivate families and evaluate the child as per a standard format. For the recruits in the research study, incentives would be provided in the form of soaps and cloths to be provided when the field teams visit the household for collection of blood samples from the study subjects. These have been selected in view of the immediate need of these to the recruited child residing in the area of Hala and through years of formative research for comparable projects in rural Sindh. These incentives have deliberately been kept modest so as not to pose undue incentives for participation. The health workers would replenish zinc or placebo supplies every 12 days (in 30 ml bottles).